Method for operating a management system of function modules

ABSTRACT

Methods for operating a management system that manages a large number of first function modules and second function modules. An inhibitor module I sets first control statuses to designating blocking when associated events are detected by an event detecting device, and then the management system no longer makes associated first function modules available for execution. The inhibitor module I sets second control statuses to designating executable when associated events are detected by an event detecting device, and then the management system makes associated second function modules available for execution.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for operating a managementsystem of function modules. In particular, the invention relates to amanagement system in which individual function modules are capable ofbeing released or not released for execution using an inhibitor module.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Although the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to a diagnosis system management (DSM) for an engine controlsystem, the present invention is not limited thereto.

A diagnosis system management (DSM) is used inter alia for controllingan operating procedure of an engine. The control takes place inaccordance with predefined program sequences and on the basis of eventswhich are sensed by sensors and communicated to the DSM. In addition,the DSM enables external analysis modules to record and analyze theprogram sequences during or after test phases and/or during routineoperation of an engine.

Referring to FIG. 5, a schematic layout of a conventional DSM V for acontrol system H of an engine will be described. The operating procedureof an engine includes sequential and/or parallel execution of aplurality of function modules h1-h3, such as, for example, an actuatorfor spark plugs, a fuel tank ventilation system and an air-fuel mixtureadapter. Those individual function modules h1-h3 are executed by acontrol system H. DSM V makes function modules h1-h3 available tocontrol system H for execution, with DSM V selecting those functionmodules h1-h3 from a first set F of first function modules f1-f4 and asecond set G of second function modules g1-g2.

Upon occurrence of events e1-e4, especially error messages, such as, forexample, a defective spark plug, it is sensible for some of firstfunction modules f1-f4 to be no longer made available to control systemH for execution, so that, for example, gasoline is no longer injectedinto the corresponding cylinder having the defective spark plug. Forthat purpose, an event detecting device E is provided in DSM V. Eventdetecting device E detects events e1-e4 inter alia by sensors thatmonitor, for example, the spark plug. If an event e1-e4 is detected, aninhibitor module I is called. Inhibitor module I has a database whichlinks event e1-e4 with first function modules f1-f4. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 1, event e1 is associated with first functionmodules f1 and f4. Upon occurrence of event e1, execution of firstfunction modules f1 and f4 is accordingly to be prevented. Firstfunction modules f1-f4 are assigned control statuses s1-s4 which arestored in registers in a memory device K. Inhibitor module I setscontrol statuses s1-s4 to designating blocking when their associatedevents e1-e4 have occurred. In the case described above, therefore,control statuses s1 and s4 are set to designating blocking. Managementsystem V interrogates control statuses s1-s4. If those control statusess1-s4 are set to designating blocking, management system V does notrelease the corresponding first function modules f1-f4 for execution andthus no longer makes them available to control system H for execution.

By reading memory device K it is possible to ascertain which functionmodules f1-f4 were blocked in the course of a test phase or a drive.This is advantageous for diagnosis of engine operation by the analysismodule.

Second function modules g1-g2 are executed only if a corresponding evente1-e4 occurs or has occurred. Management system V is able inter alia tomake a second function module g1-g2 available to control system Hinstead of a blocked function module f1-f4. Which of the second functionmodules g1-g2 will be made available is ascertained by management systemV inter alia on the basis of internal algorithms of management system V.This may involve, for example, individual function modules f1-f4, g1-g2being assigned priorities and, upon blocking of a prioritized functionmodule, the next-in-priority function module being made available.

A disadvantage with this method is that it is not transparent to anexternal analysis module which of second function modules g1-g2 iscapable of being made available by DSM V after an event e1-e4 hasoccurred. For an analysis, an analysis module therefore requiresknowledge of the internal algorithms of management system V and musttherefore be adapted to every new DSM.

A further disadvantage is that management system V has to examine for asecond function module g1-g2 all the events e1-e4 associated with secondfunction module g1-g2 before management system V is able to establishwhether that second function module g1-g2 is or is not releasable forexecution by control system H.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method foroperating a management system, which method solves the problemsmentioned above.

The present invention provides a method for operating a managementsystem that manages a large number of first and second function modules,wherein a first function module is not released for execution if anassociated first control status designates that first function module asblocking and does not release a second function module for execution ifa second control status designates that second function module asnon-executable. In a first database, there is associated with each firstfunction module a first event set which is empty or has at least oneevent, and a second database associates with each second function modulea second event set which is either empty or has at least one event. Ifan event detecting module detects one or more events, an inhibitormodule is executed. That inhibitor module sets all first controlstatuses to designating blocking if at least one of the detected eventsis included in the one first event set associated with the first controlstatus and sets all the second control statuses to designatingexecutable if at least one of the detected events is included in theevent set associated with the second control status.

One advantage of the present invention is that a second control statusis assigned to each second function module, which second control statusindicates whether the second function module may or may not be madeavailable by the management system for execution. In that manner,expenditure on resources is reduced, as is the time taken by themanagement system to establish whether the corresponding second functionmodule may or may not be made available by examining the correspondingsecond control status.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that theinhibitor module stores the first and the second control status in amemory device and the management system reads out the first and secondcontrol status from the memory device. An external analysis module isthus able to detect which of the first and second function modules isblocked or released solely by reading out the memory device.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that eachfunction module is associated in the memory device with a statusregister, the first control status being storable in a first memorylocation of the status register and the second control status beingstorable in a second memory location of the status register.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that the firstand the second memory locations are an identical memory location.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that the firstand the second memory locations each have the same memory value when thefirst control status is designating blocking and the second controlstatus is designating non-executable or the first control status isdesignating non-blocking and the second control status is designatingexecutable. As a result, advantageously it is not necessary todistinguish according to first and second function modules when theregisters are being evaluated.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that a thirdmemory location is provided in the status register, which third memorylocation indicates whether the management system is evaluating inrelation to a function module the first or the second control status.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that theinhibitor module is executed every time the event detecting module hasdetected a single event.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that, in afirst step, a re-set takes place, wherein all first control statuses areset to designating non-blocking and all second control statuses are setto designating non-executable.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that, after are-set, a loop interrogates all possible events as to their occurrenceand the first and second control statuses are set according to theoccurrence or non-occurrence of the events.

A preferred development of the present invention provides that the firstand second control statuses are set, after execution of the loop, onlyif an event occurs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail below with reference to the accompanying Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration for the linking of a managementsystem with events;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the memory allocation of aregister to first and second control statuses;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a further embodiment of the memorydisposition of a first and/or second control status in a register;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a flow diagram of a first step ofan embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of linking a management system withevents in accordance with the related art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, a schematic illustration of one embodiment of the presentinvention is shown. A management system V manages a first set offunctions F and a second set of functions G, the first set of functionsF including first function modules f1-f4 and the second set of functionsG including second function modules g1-g2. The number of functionmodules is to be regarded here merely as an example. Function modulesf1-f4, g1-g2 provide functions for actuating the spark plugs,ventilating the cylinders, adapting the mixture and the like. Managementsystem V makes one or more of those function modules available to acontrol system H which executes the function modules h1-h3 madeavailable.

Each first function module f1-f4 is assigned a first control statuss1-s4 via a link 4. That first control status has two statuses:“designating non-blocking” and “designating blocking”. If first controlstatus s1-s4 is designating blocking, first function module f1-f4 is notmade available by management system V, i.e., control system H is notable to execute that function module f1-f4. In the converse case, it ispossible for first function module f1-f4 to be released by managementsystem V.

First control status s1-s4 is set to designating blocking if an evente1-e4 that a first database associates with that first control statuss1-s4 occurs. In the case of first control status s2 in the illustrationin FIG. 1, events e2 and e3, for example, are linked to first controlstatus s2, as shown graphically by an interconnection 3, event paths 2and function paths 1. Evaluation of the first database having theinterconnections 3 of first control statuses s1-s4 and events e1-e4 isperformed by an inhibitor module I which at the same time sets thecorresponding first control statuses s1-s4 to designating blocking ifthe corresponding event e1-e4 occurs.

Second function modules g1-g2 are assigned second control statusesr1-r2. Second control statuses r1-r2 have the following statuses:“designating non-executable” or “designating executable”. In the case ofdesignating executable, second function modules g1-g2 are released bymanagement system V to control system H for execution and may thereforebe executed by control system H. In the other case, second functionmodules g1-g2 are not released for execution and therefore it is notpossible for them to be executed by control system H.

Second control statuses r1-r2 are set, in conformity with first controlstatuses s1-s4, on the basis of events e1-e4. In this operation, secondcontrol statuses r1-r2 are set to designating executable if an evente1-e4 that corresponds to them occurs. The linking of second controlstatuses r1-r2 with events e1-e4 is performed by a second database. Thesecond database is likewise evaluated by inhibitor module I and theinhibitor module sets second control statuses r1-r2 accordingly todesignating executable upon occurrence of an event e1-e4.

Control statuses s1-s4, r1-r2 are stored by inhibitor module I in amemory device K. Management system V is able to access memory device Kthrough an interface and reads out control statuses s1-s4, r1-r2 inorder to decide which function modules f1-f4, g1-g2 are releasable forexecution by control system H. Advantageously, management system V needsto read only control statuses s1-s4, r1-r2 for that decision andindividual examination of events e1-e4 is not necessary for release ofsecond function modules g1-g2.

Events e1-e4 are detected by an event detecting device E. Eventdetecting device E has a plurality of sensors that monitor the currentoperating state of an engine. In one embodiment, event detecting deviceE is able to trigger a call-up of inhibitor module I, in a secondembodiment inhibitor module I cyclically interrogates event detectingdevice E as to the presence of an event e1-e4.

In FIG. 2, a schematic illustration of two registers t1 and t2 of memorydevice K of one embodiment is shown. First control status s1-s4 isstored in a first memory area A of register t1. Second control statusr1-r2 is stored in a second memory area B of register t2. In theembodiment illustrated, first memory area A and second memory area B areat non-identical memory locations. Management system V reads memorylocations A, B using a method function that selects the memory locationcorresponding to first function module s1-s4 or second function moduler1-r2 ¹. In addition, a third memory location C may be provided inregisters t1, t2, which memory location C indicates which of the twomemory locations A, B is authoritative for the release or blocking ofthe function module. This is provided for external analysis modules,which accordingly do not require a priori knowledge of the functionmodules associated with registers t1, t2. It is also possible for thirdmemory location C to be used by management system V.

In FIG. 3, a schematic illustration of a register t3 of a furtherembodiment is shown. In this case, first control status s1-s4 and secondcontrol status r1-r2 are stored in the same memory area D. In thisinstance, a memory value for designating blocking of a first controlstatus s1-s4 corresponds to a designating non-executable of a secondcontrol status r1-r2, and a memory value for designating non-blocking ofa first control status s1-s4 corresponds to designating executable of asecond control status r1-r2. Thus, in the case of the one memory value,the function module may be made available by management system V and, inthe case of the second memory value, must be blocked, irrespective ofwhether a first or a second function module is assigned to the register.Advantageously, therefore, neither management system V nor an externalanalysis module has to distinguish between first and second controlstatuses s1-s4, r1-r2. It is, however, necessary for all first andsecond control statuses to be set in a first step of the method, inaccordance with a procedure described in FIG. 4; this may be done interalia at new start of the control system.

FIG. 4 shows schematically a flow diagram of a first step of anembodiment. At the start, re-setting of all control statuses is carriedout by setting all first control statuses s1-s4 to designatingexecutable S1 and all second control statuses r1-r2 to designatingblocking S2. This corresponds to the initial situation where all firstfunction modules f1-f4 may be released by management system V and allsecond function modules g1-g2 are not released by management system V.Once first and second control statuses f1-f4, g1-g2 ¹ have been setaccordingly, it may be advantageous to run a loop that interrogates allevents e1-e4 linked to management system V as to whether they haveoccurred or not S3, and subsequently, if applicable, execute inhibitormodule I S4 so that first and second control statuses s1-s4, r1-r2 areset according to the events e1-e4 that have occurred. The advantage ofexecuting such a loop becomes apparent especially when event detectingmodule E reacts only to a change, that is, to the occurrence of a newevent e1-e4. Events that have already been detected previously orpermanently detected events e1-e4 would not be detected by such an eventdetecting device E. Accordingly, first and second control statusess1-s4, r1-r2 would possibly remain incorrectly set after a re-set. Onthe other hand, it is advantageous, once all control statuses are set,to react only to change, that is, to new events e1-e4 that occur, inorder to minimize system load due to event detecting device E andexecution of inhibitor module I. Advantageously, inhibitor module Iresorts to a first and a second database, which are centrallyaccessible. By adapting the first and second databases it is possible toadapt the control behavior of management system V to new managementsettings using a central data change.

Although the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments it is not limited thereto. In particular, definiteassignment of a function module to first and second function modules isnot absolutely necessary, but rather a function module may belong toboth sets.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

-   1 function path-   2 event path-   3 interconnection-   I inhibitor module-   P process control device-   K memory device-   V management system-   s1-s4 first control status-   r1,r2 second control status-   A,B,C first, second, third memory location-   D memory location-   t1,t2,t3 status register-   F set of first function modules-   f1-f4 first function modules-   H control system-   h1-h3 executable function modules-   E event detecting device-   e1-e4 events-   G set of second function modules-   g1,g2 second function modules

1. A method for operating a management system that manages a largenumber of first function modules and second function modules,comprising: stopping the management system from releasing the firstfunction module for execution if an associated first control statusdesignates the first function module as blocked; stopping the managementsystem from releasing the second function module for execution if asecond control status designates the second function module asnon-executable, wherein a first database associates with each firstfunction module a first event set which is empty or contains at leastone event, and a second database associates with each second functionmodule a second event set which is empty or has at least one event;detecting one or more events with an event detecting device; andexecuting an inhibitor module which, on the basis of the first database,sets all the first control statuses whose associated event set containsat least one of the detected events to designating blocking and, on thebasis of the second database, sets all the second control statuses whoseassociated event set contains at least one of the detected events todesignating executable.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein theinhibitor module stores the first control status and the second controlstatus in a memory device and the management system reads out the firstcontrol status and the second control status from the memory device. 3.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein each function module isassociated in the memory device with a status register, the firstcontrol status being storable in a first memory location of the statusregister and the second control status being storable in a second memorylocation of the status register.
 4. The method as recited in claim 3,wherein the first memory location and the second memory location are anidentical memory location.
 5. The method as recited in claim 3, whereinthe first memory location and the second memory location have a firstmemory value when the first control status is designating blocking orthe second control status is designating non-executable, and have asecond memory value when the first control status is designatingnon-blocking or the second control status is designating executable. 6.The method as recited in claim 5, wherein in the status register a thirdmemory location is provided which indicates whether the managementsystem is evaluating in relation to a function module the first controlstatus or the second control status.
 7. The method as recited in claim1, wherein the inhibitor module is executed every time the eventdetecting module has detected a single event.
 8. The method as recitedin claim 1, wherein in a first step a re-set takes place, wherein allfirst control statuses are set to designating non-blocking and allsecond control statuses are set to designating non-executable.
 9. Themethod as recited in claim 8, wherein after a re-set a loop interrogatesall possible events as to their occurrence, and the first controlstatuses and the second control statuses are set according to theoccurrence or non-occurrence of the events.
 10. The method as recited inclaim 9, wherein the first control statuses and the second controlstatuses are set, after execution of the loop, only if an event occurs.11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the inhibitor modulestores the first control status and the second control status in amemory device and the management system reads out the first controlstatus and the second control status from the memory device, and whereineach function module is associated in the memory device with a statusregister, the first control status being storable in a first memorylocation of the status register and the second control status beingstorable in a second memory location of the status register.
 12. Themethod as recited in claim 11, wherein the first memory location and thesecond memory location are an identical memory location.
 13. The methodas recited in claim 11, wherein the first memory location and the secondmemory location have a first memory value when the first control statusis designating blocking or the second control status is designatingnon-executable, and have a second memory value when the first controlstatus is designating non-blocking or the second control status isdesignating executable.
 14. The method as recited in claim 13, whereinin the status register a third memory location is provided whichindicates whether the management system is evaluating in relation to afunction module the first control status or the second control status.15. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the inhibitor module isexecuted every time the event detecting module has detected a singleevent, and wherein in a first step a re-set takes place, wherein allfirst control statuses are set to designating non-blocking and allsecond control statuses are set to designating non-executable.
 16. Themethod as recited in claim 15, wherein after a re-set a loopinterrogates all possible events as to their occurrence, and the firstcontrol statuses and the second control statuses are set according tothe occurrence or non-occurrence of the events, and wherein the firstcontrol statuses and the second control statuses are set, afterexecution of the loop, only if an event occurs.